Packing brace for washing machines and the like

ABSTRACT

Packing brace for automatic washing machines, bracing the agitator, spin basket and casing of the machine from movement relative to each other during moving of the machine from place to place. The brace is made from a single block of resilient plastic material. Parallel slits separate the block into a plurality of bracing arms. The slits are enlarged adjacent their inner ends to provide integral hinges between the arms and accommodate opening thereof to extend about the center post of the agitator. The block is of sufficient height and the arms are of sufficient length to fit between the inner rim of the casing, spin basket and center post of the agitator. The outer end portions of the arms taper inwardly toward their lower ends, and the inner end portions of the arms are recessed along generally uniform arcs to fit around the center post of the agitator when the arms are opened relative to each other.

United States Patent [191 Kennington [451 May 7,1974

[ PACKING BRACE FOR WASHING MACHINES AND THE LIKE Joseph B. Kennington, Wheaton, Ill.

[52 r], us. g, ..206/320, 206/523, 206/815} 51 lm. c1 B65d 81/06 [58] Field of Search 206/46 M, 46 FC; 217/53;

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 11/1971 Elwell 206/46 M 2/l97l Freeman 206/46 FC Primary Examiner-William T. Dixson, Jr. Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Hill, Sherman, Meroni, Gross & Simpson [5 7] ABSTRACT Packing brace for automatic washing machines, bracing the agitator, spin basket and casing of the machine from movement relative to each other during moving of the machine from place to place. The brace is made from a single block of resilient plastic material. Parallel slits separate the block into a plurality of bracing arms. The slits are enlarged adjacent their inner ends to provide integral hinges between the arms and accommodate opening thereof to extend about the center post of the agitator. The block is of sufficient height and the arms are of sufficient length to fit between the inner rim of the casing, spin basket and center post of the agitator. The outer end portions of the arms taper inwardly toward their lower ends, and the inner end portions of the arms are recessed along generally uniform arcs to fit around the center post of the agitator when the arms are opened relative to each other.

3 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures PACKING BRACE FOR WASHING MACHINES AND THE LIKE FIELD OF THE INVENTION PRIOR ART Elwell Pat. No. 3,620,365 dated Nov. 16, 1971, the references cited in the file of the Elwell patent, plus the Patents to Collin US. Pat. No. 3,335,849; Elwell US.

Pat. No. 3,321,071; and Bjerum US. Pat. No. 3,184,048 disclose various forms of prior art bracing means for automatic washing machines.

BACKGROUND, SUMMARY AND ADVANTAGES OF THE INVENTION In moving'and shipping automatic washing machines having a spin basket rotatable about a vertical axis, an agitator at the center of the basket and a casing or housing for the spin basket and agitator, it is necessary to brace the agitator and spin basket to the machine casing to prevent damage to the machine during shipment. Such devices are customarily provided by the manufacturer for the shipment of new machines or by the movers moving the machine. The bracing means in many cases are formed from corrugated board disks fitting over the agitator and engaging the flange of the clothes opening in the casing and often slipping along the agitator during shipment and coming out of engagement with the casing. Other bracing devices have been provided which in many cases may be reused. Such devices are usually made from a number of parts but are relatively complicated and uneconomical and inmost cases are left in the washing machine when the machine reaches its destination. These prior bracing devices must be fastened together usually about the center post of the agitator, to efficiently hold the agitator and spin basket from movement relative to the casing which consumes an undesirable amount of time and are difficult to store prior to use.

The packingbrace of the present invention is made from a single block of resilient material having equally spaced slits cut from the outerto the inner end thereof and terminating in enlarged apertured portions adjacent the inner end of the block, forming integral hinges and a series of bracing arms tapering inwardly from the tops to the bottoms thereof along their outer ends. The arms are openable about the hinged portions thereof to fit about the center post of the agitator and to be wedged between the casing, spin basket and agitator of the washing machine;

Among the advantages of the invention are that the braces may readily be stored in the form of rectangular blocks, and thus take up a minimum of storage space, and require no assembling of parts when bracing the agitator and spin basket of the washing machine for moving.

Other advantages are that the taper of the arms of the brace give it a better fit betweenthe washing machine casing and spin basket, and the brace when extended about the agitator, is self-aligning and will not twist or allow movement of the parts of the washing machine relative to each other.

2 A further advantage is that the brace is lightweight and easy to install by an inexperienced person and is of such a low cost that it may be discarded when once used.

A further advantage of the invention is that a single brace braces both the spin basket and agitator to the washing machine casing and fits all household washers of the agitator type.

Other objects, features and advantages of the invention will be readily apparent from the following description of a preferred embodiment thereof, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, although variations and modifications may be effected without departing from the spirit and scope of the novel concepts of the disclosure.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the top portion of an automatic washing machine showing a brace constructed in accordance with the principles of the present invention in position to hold the agitator and spin basket from relative movement with respect to the casing for the spin basket.

FIG. 2 is a vertical sectional view taken substantially along line 11-11 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a brace constructed in accordance with the principles of the present invention showing the arms of the brace hinged into engagement with each other in block-lke form for storage.

FIG. 4 is a top plan view of the brace showing the arms of the brace in extended relation with respect to each other to fit about the center post of a washing machine agitator; and

FIG. 5 is a view in side elevation of the brace.

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENT OF INVENTION In FIGS. 1 and 2 of the drawings, I have shown the upper portion of a convention top-loading automatic washing machine and have shown a section through the upper part of this machine. The washing machine includes an outer casing 10, a foraminous tub or spin basket 11 rotatably supported within said casing for rotation about a vertical axis for extracting water from the clothes therein and held from rotation during a washing operation. I have also shown an agitator 12 within said basket having conventional agitating vanes extending about a center post 13, shown as extending above the top of the basket 11. The agitator is oscillatably driven during a washing operation by conventional drive mechanism and is usually free to rotate with the basket and clothes therein during the extracting operation. The drive to the basket may also be of a conventional form so need not herein be shown or described.

The outer casing 10 is shown as having a top portion 15 having a rectangular recessed portion 16 therein for a hinged lid 17. The recessed portion 16 has a central opening therein defined by a downwardly extending and inturned flanged portion 19. The spin basket 11 also has an inwardly extending annular flange 20 extending inwardly of the outer wall thereof and termimachine, the features of which are in all automatic oscillatable agitator types of washing machines.

Referring now in particular to the bracing means of the present invention, for retaining the agitator and spin basket from relative movement with respect to the casing of the washing machine, I have shown in FIG. 3 a generally rectangular block 22 of plastic material, sufficiently resilient to be wedged between the agitator and basket and casing of a washing machine, when the block is in its extended bracing position. The block may be made from various forms of plastic materials, a suitable material being a polystyrene plastic foam known to the trade as Styrofoam. The block 22 has a top wall 23, parallel side walls 24, and a rear or outer wall 25 tapering from the top to the bottom thereof at a slight angle, which may be of the order of 10 (FIG. 5) to provide a generally wedging fit between the container and basket and center post of the agitator as the block is extended to its bracing form shown in FIG. 2 and placed about the agitator center post. 1

The block 22 is shown as having two parallel equally spaced slit portions 26 spaced equal distances from each other and from'the side walls 24 of said block and extending for a substantial portion of the length thereof and terminating into enlarged apertured portions 27.

The slits 26 and apertured portions 27 may beformed by passing a hot wire along the block from the outer wall 25 thereof toward the forward end portion thereof and then enlarging the inner end portions of the slits by the wire to form the apertured portions 27.

Between the outer walls of the block and the slits 26 and between the slits 26 are convex wall portions 29 which may also be formed by a hot wire, and generally conform to the center post of an agitator when the brace is in its extended form shown in FIG. 2. The slits 26 and apertured portions 27 thus divide the block into three integral hingedly connected bracing arms or legs 30 which may be hinged about the integral hinged portions thereof 120 from the central leg, and provide a three-point brace for the agitator and its center shaft and for the basket 11 fitting about the center shaft of the agitator and bracing the spin basket and agitator to the washing machine casing, and thereby preventing movement of said spin basket and agitator relative to said casing during movement of the washing machine from one destination to another.

It may be seen from the foregoing that when bracing the agitator and spin basket to the casing, the arms 30 are moved to theirextended positions shown in FIG. 2 with the tapered outer walls 25 placed within the flanged portion 19 of said casing, and the central opening formed by the joined concave portions 29 fitting about the center post. In this position, the taper of the rear walls 25 is engaged with the flanged portion 19 of the casing at the converging end portion of the casing to accommodate the brace to, in effect, be wedged between the flanges 19 and 21 and to fit about the center post 13 of the agitator to effectively hold the agitator and spin basket from relative movement with respect to each other and with respect to the casing.

With the form shown, a wedging fit is provided between the casing, spin basket and agitator providing a firm grip on the agitator and of sufficient taper to prevent the brace from falling into the basket during transportation.

While I have herein shown three bracing arms, which is a preferable form of brace due to the simplicity of the brace and the better grip between the casing, basket and agitator, it should be understood that the brace may have four arms, if desired, by the forming of three equally spaced slits in the Styrofoam block and either widening the original block or else providing thinner arms.

I claim as my invention:

1. In a one-piece collapsible packing brace for washing machines and the like, maintaining the agitator and spin basket of the machine from movement with respect to the casing of the machine during transporta-- tion, a rectangular block of resilient plastic material having parallel top and bottom and sidewalls, an outer wall tapering at a slight angle-from the top to the bottom of said block, two parallel equally spaced slit portionsleading along said block from the outer wall thereof and having terminal ends terminating closely adjacent the inner ,end of said block, enlarged openings at the terminal ends of said slits extending from the top to the bottom of said block, said slits dividing the block into three hinged bracing arms integral with said block 2. The packing brace of claim 1, wherein the inner sides of the arms are recessed along uniform arcs to generally conform to the agitator when hinged outwardly relative to each other' into their bracing positions.

3. The packing brace of claim 2 wherein the plastic material is a polystyrene plastic foam sufficiently resilient to be wedged between the agitator, spin basket and casing of a washing machine when the block is in its bracing position. 

1. In a one-piece collapsible packing brace for washing machines and the like, maintaining the agitator and spin basket of the machine from movement with respect to the casing of the machine during transportation, a rectangular block of resilient plastic material having parallel top and bottom and sidewalls, an outer wall tapering at a slight angle from the top to the bottom of said block, two parallel equally spaced slit portions leading along said block from the outer wall thereof and having terminal ends terminating closely adjacent the inner end of said block, enlarged openings at the terminal ends of said slits extending from the top to the bottom of said block, said slits dividing the block into three hinged bracing arms integral with said block and the enlarged openings accommodating the opening of said block to position said arms 120* apart to engage the centerpost of a washing machine agitator and maintain the agitator of the machine from rocking movement with respect to the casing of the machine during transportation, said tapered outer wall portion engaging the casing and spin basket and holding the spin basket from movement relative to the agitator and casing.
 2. The packing brace of claim 1, wherein the inner sides of the arms are recessed along uniform arcs to generally conform to the agitator when hinged outwardly relative to each other into their bracing positions.
 3. The packing brace of claim 2 wherein the plastic material is a polystyrene plastic foam sufficiently resilient to be wedged between the agitator, spin basket and casing of a washing machine when the block is in its bracing position. 